Hamas struck the Kerem Shalom border crossing earlier on Sunday. As a result, Israel closed the border crossing, which has been important for aid shipments.
At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza health authority and first aid sources.
Israel carried out its airstrikes just before midnight on two different targets on different sides of Rafah, hospital sources say.
The Israeli airstrikes were a response to a grenade attack by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday. The Hamas attack killed three and wounded a dozen Israeli soldiers, sources in the Israeli army said on Sunday evening.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli media reported that several Israeli soldiers were injured or wounded in the attack.
According to Israel, the condition of the three wounded is serious.
– This is a very serious event from our point of view and is unacceptable, a spokesman for the Israeli army Peter Lerner said at a press conference.
According to Lerner, the military is investigating why the soldiers died even though the alarm siren had sounded. According to him, the army was also not aware that there had been an attempt to counter the rockets.
– The Air Force is carefully investigating what has happened, Lerner said.
Israel’s heavy combat equipment is stored in the area targeted by the Hamas attack.
The Israeli army closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza to aid shipments due to the Hamas attack.
The army says ten grenades were fired at the border crossing from the town of Rafah. The Israeli army also said it destroyed the launchers used to launch the grenades in Rafah in a counterstrike earlier on Sunday.
Kerem Shalom has been in an important position for aid transport, as it has been the only border crossing point from Israel to Gaza.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, STT